Amador County – Sutter Amador Hospital on Wednesday gave local media a sneak preview of the Emergency Department which, pending a state inspection on Friday will be opening to serve Emergency Room patients next Tuesday.

Sutter Amador Hospital CEO Anne Platt and Karen Woods, Emergency Department Director led members of the media on a tour of the new wing, part of an Emergency Department expansion that will eventually increase the ER at Sutter Amador Hospital to 14 critical care treatment rooms, and three full triage rooms.

Department personnel were working to prepare for the inspection, which Platt said should be passed and allow the wing to open. It will give the current six-room emergency department 11 total critical care treatment rooms, which are large enough to allow five specialists in the room with one patient.

The new area also has a central help area, a waiting room with a vending area for more customer comfort, and a triage area.

The new area will be linked to the existing area with a door. The project was not yet fully complete but Sutter Amador Hospital officials wanted to invite the media for a preview because they anticipate opening a large portion of the new Emergency Department to see patients starting next week on Tuesday, May 29 pending our inspection by the California Department of Public Health on Friday.

Emergency Department Director, Karen Woods showed the new department, which includes a large locker room and break room for personnel, something the existing ER Department does not have. 

Platt said Woods will be retiring at the end of June. Platt said this is the second expansion made since she has been here, and the current ER was sufficient compared to the old department, but the new facilities will be that much more better, and are that much more needed.

The Sutter Amador Hospital Emergency Department has treated more than 18,000 patients since 2011, which is an increase of more than 12 percent since 2007.

Platt said the hospital, even with the six-bed ER, is consistently high in patient satisfaction scores, and the Emergency Department physicians’ currently score a 90 percent.

The full expansion of the Emergency Department is expected to be complete late this year or early next year. The square footage will increase from 5,600 to more than 9,000 square feet.

May 29’s anticipated opening will be completion of Phase 3 of the project will include 12 operational patient rooms, including eight new rooms to open, combined with four existing rooms.

It will have a new central monitoring system, and an “eMAP,” that is an “electronic Medication Administration Program.”

Expanded waiting room beside vending machines will have a public restroom, a private consultation room, and easy access from the Emergency Department waiting room to hospital and outpatient buildings.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.